A few weeks ago, LSU's hopes of playing at home in the NCAA Tournament were on shaky ground. Now, as the postseason begins, the Tigers are at home in the cozy confines of Alex Box Stadium as long as they keep winning.

The quest for another College World Series berth begins Friday when No. 4/5-ranked LSU tangles with in-state neighbor Southeastern Louisiana in a first-round game.

The Tigers enter the regional as the favorite, but this is a tougher than usual field, with three conference tournament champions joining the SEC Tournament winners. Houston was on the cusp of hosting a regional and is ranked as high as No. 9.

To grind through the next several days and get the 3-4 wins needed, LSU needs its stars to shine, and here are five to watch this weekend.

HITTER | Alex Bregman

Fairly or not, the ultra-talented sophomore shortstop got a large heaping of blame when the LSU offenses was up-and-down in the earlier stages of the season. He also deserves plenty of credit for the recent uptick, although he started to warm up well before the eight-game surge that has been team-wide.

Since dipping to .278 after a 3-for-13 weekend at Ole Miss, Bregman has been much steadier from the three-hole and more recently the two-spot. In 18 games since that weekend in mid-April, the Albuquerque native has swung at a .346 clip (27 of 78) with nine multi-hit games, 7 doubles, 4 home runs, 14 runs scored and 18 RBIs.

LSU coach Paul Mainieri deemed Bregman 'the straw that stirs the drink,' and the concoction has been mixed up well since he began to swing better. If he can continue to team with Mark Laird as a one-two fire-starter punch, it's hard to imagine the Tigers completely cooling off, regardless of how stout the pitching might be.

IN THE FIELD | Tyler Moore

There may not be another player on the roster who is as vital -- and versatile -- as Moore, who will in all likelihood start at first base and catcher this weekend.

LSU junior Tyler Moore is the Tigers' most experienced and best defensive first baseman.NOLA.com | Times-Picayune

When he is behind the plate, which is always when Aaron Nola pitches and regularly when not, Moore is the most fundamentally sound of the Tigers' trio of options back there in terms of framing and giving pitchers the best target.

That could be huge should LSU draw stolen base-happy Houston in the second round. Likewise, he is the Tigers' best defensive first baseman, and when Jared Poche and Kyle Bouman are clicking, they will pitch to contact.

That makes every ground ball scooped up by an infielder a huge play, and Moore is the best target to make a short-hop throw an out. One way or another, Moore figures to be a factor in what loom as low-scoring, tightly-contested games.

STARTING PITCHER | Jared Poche

Between the certainty of Aaron Nola pitching well and the high hopes of Kyle Bouman continuing his recent surge sits Poche and what he can do to get the Tigers off on the right foot.

His recent upsurge indicates the Lutcher left-hander should be tough as nails against Southeastern. He hasn't allowed more than 2 earned runs in his last five full-fledge starts and he is getting LSU deep into games -- averaging 7 innings those outings.

Except for one game at Texas A&M when he walked five batters, Poche has reduced free passes with only two in the last 16 games, and that will be a huge factor vs. the Lions, who will work him for anything easy they can get. Throwing strikes, staying ahead and not backing down with his fastball will all come in handy for Poche against Southeastern.

RELIEF PITCHER | Joe Broussard

It would be easy enough to forget about how effective the junior from New Orleans has been this season because he hasn't gotten a lot of action the last few weeks, especially in late-game save situations.

His last game-on-the-line outings were against Texas A&M, and he struggled twice blowing a big 9t-inning lead in one game and absorbing the loss in another.

But there don't figure to be a bunch of blowouts the rest of the way, so any time Broussard steps on the mound the rest of the way, there figure to be high stakes and drama involved.

Considering how he has thrown all season, that's good news for LSU. Broussard leads the Tigers with 8 saves and an 0.89 ERA and has surrendered runs in only four of his 30 appearances -- never more than one.

Walks have pestered him at times (15 in 30.1 innings), but he has a tenacity that allows him to work out of trouble more often than not.

WILDCARD | Jake Fraley

While most of the LSU batting order has stayed fairly consistent, Fraley is the one mid-season addition that has shined brightest. The Delaware native started only three of the first 25 games this season and was often productive, with 7 hits in 16 at-bats, 10 runs and 10 RBIs in occasional playing time.

LSU freshman Jake Fraley has been a consistent hitter from the time he emerged as a starter and leads the Tiger regulars with a .385 batting average.LSU Sports Information | LSUsports.net

Starting with the road game on Tulane on March 25, Fraley became a regular starter and his impact is hard to ignore.

In 20 starts since then and several other games when he entered once the opponent went from a left-handed starter to a righty, he is hitting .375 (33 of 88) with 19 runs and 19 RBIs.

In those 20 starts, he has eight games with more than one hit. And perhaps more important than any other stat, the Tigers have won since Fraley's emergence began -- a lot. They are 24-6 since the start of April and he has been in the lineup most of that stretch.

As impressively as anything else, the five-tool rookie doesn't seem fazed by whatever situation he finds himself in --case in point was the 8th inning against Florida in the SEC Tournament championship game when he stole second base with two outs right before Sean McMullen cranked out a game-winning home run.